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Koloni

Abstract

Koloni is a shareable technology company based in Iowa. Our mission is to help create sharing communities and promote healthy, active living through our key core product offerings, as well as gain new, valuable data & insights to help cities evaluate performance and justify additional funding for future developments.

1) Koloni Cycle: our unique, hybrid bike sharing system combines the ease of use of a dockless model using mobile app and bluetooth/QR technology, while maintaining the organization and structure of a kiosk based system by using geofenced Hubs (but at 1/10th the cost). Through this model we are looking to deliver a smarter, safer, and more connected customer bike sharing experience for cities of all sizes.

2) Koloni Scooter: our newest innovation, electric scooter sharing provides a unique shared-mobility solution and alternative to bike sharing. Scooters are an enticing option in the shared mobility world; they’re compact, two-wheeled, and very easy to use. These characteristics make scooters attractive and are going to increase as this way of getting around becomes more widely adopted in untapped markets.

3) Koloni Play: a first-of-its-kind, patent pending, recreational sharing product, the Koloni Kube, allows our partners to build SMART Parks by having the ability to offer a new amenity to its users. Using the same bluetooth/QR code technology the Kube allows users to rent equipment, such as basketballs, footballs, volleyballs, tennis rackets and gold discs to anything in between. The Kube is also outfitted with technological features, such as digital displays and sensors, and is solar powered giving it the capability of being a charging station or WIFI hotspot.

4) Koloni Kayak: an extension to the Koloni Play, the Koloni Kayak system has been developed to support a maintenance free kayak rental service for partners across the US.

Overall, Koloni's shared mobility solutions and diverse product offering all through one, connected platform creates long term growth opportunities for our us and our partners. This model can be duplicated in the public or private sectors and is built to service any size community, Parks & Rec, Apartment Complexes, Corporate Campuses, Universities/Colleges, Trail Systems, and more.

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Additional Questions

Who is your customer?

What problem does this idea/product solve or what market need does it serve?

Our solutions help solve provide alternative transportation and access to various products and services. We also help provide valuable data and insights for our partners to use.

What attributes will make this idea/product successful? Why do you believe that those features will create success?

Koloni has built a platform that offers many competitive advantages over our competition.
• Patent Pending – The KoloniPlay and Kayak shareable renting technology has a utility patent pending that prohibits other individuals or companies from making, using or selling the invention without authorization.
• Sales & Marketing Strategy - We ultimately have two customers; the partners who purchase our hardware and software, and the end users who use the products. In order to grow our business, we need to first secure new prospects that would look to utilize our services. To do this we have built a very aggressive sales and marketing platform to connect with as many potential partners as possible, which we mange through our customer relationship management (CRM) software. Some of our key strategies includes: direct B2B sales, press releases, webinar series, mechanical turk lead generation, email and boomerang campaigns, SEO/strong website content/blogs, and more.
• Hybrid Bike Sharing – Koloni is the only hybrid bike sharing system that delivers a unique solution that can be offered to cities of all sizes, as well as many other verticals (more information below under Products/Services).
• Sustainable & Scalable Model – our financial model is structured in a way that not only allows Koloni to be financially sustainable, but also our partners, which allows these systems to thrive and grow. Our competitors (only bike sharing applicable) have issues in one of 2 ways. 1) Kiosk systems that are too expensive and require major subsidizing. 2) Dockless systems that are burning through investor cash by dumping as many units into cities as possible. The result of this is cheap bikes, poor user experience, and no management. Within the next 3 years these operations will be bankrupt or obsolete.
• KoloniPlay & Kayak (Multiple Product Offerings) – while there are a handful of bike share companies in the US today, no one has developed the ability to offer multiple shareable services. Our recreational sharing product, KoloniPlay, will change the way people interact with parks and open areas (more information below under Products/Services).
• Data – Another important aspect of Koloni’s product line is the ability to capture valuable user data to better understand who users are, how the use these services, and more. The insights gained from this data analysis help cities and other agencies make more informed decisions, help optimize capital expenditure budgets, and support future planning efforts.
• Quality – without question Koloni has the most complete and highest quality service. From our backend management system and partner portal we make it extremely easy to manage operations for our partners. Additionally, our bike, SMART lock, and racks are the most durable in the market.

Explain how you (your team) will execute to make this idea/product successful? What gives you (your team) an advantage over others already in the market or new to this market?

There are many competitors in the bike share space, but none that have had a focus on creating an ecosystem of shareable products. Our competitors in the bike share space are most notably kiosk-based systems or “dockless” bike shares. For Kiosk systems they provide partners with a very organized and manageable system. The bikes are also high quality, which is a must in this space to avoid consistent maintenance and repairs. However, the drawback here is that this model is not financially feasible to 95% of the US cities. Kiosk-base systems only exist today in major cities and are highly subsidized in order to stay afloat. And these systems are not app based, but require a physical machine to provide payment or rent the bikes.
Looking at dockless competitors one strength they have is that they claim a “free” or “no cost” system for the city. Another strength they offer is that they are able to supply a large number of bikes to these cities, which allows for easy access to users. Their mobile app provides a fairly easy rental experience.
However, there are major weaknesses that come with this model. The financial models of these systems are not anywhere close to be financially sustainable. These companies are burning through investor capital very quickly. Many have already found themselves bankrupt or heading for bankruptcy without more capital within a few years. Additionally, the quality of the bikes is extremely poor, and there is no structure for where bikes can be returned. Everyday new articles are released showing bikes broken, left flipped over in front of store fronts or in parks, or are thrown into rivers because they are not secured to anything. Lastly, these companies do not have the best interest of the city in mind. Their goal by dumping thousands of bikes into cities is to be used as a marketing tool to show how many units they have on the ground to try and raise more capital.
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of our competition has allowed us to capitalize in a number of ways. Our hybrid bike share program was designed to utilize the best features of kiosk and dockless systems. We’ve also focused on creating a program that is actually financially sustainable and high-quality that can still be provided at little cost to our partners. We work with our partners to find funding solutions by leveraging grants, raising money through sponsorships, or accessing available budgets.
We also are not a bike share company. Bike sharing was just our first offering. Our vision is to be a shareable platform where our Koloni app act as a key to the city and allows users to access bikes, recreational equipment, find parking, access local transit, and more. No longer should there be a fragmented user experience where users need multiple apps or have no connectivity to their city. With Koloni we create sharing communities that benefit everyone.

Team Leader

Daniel Trainor

Western Illinois University

Dan graduated with honors from Western Illinois University with a a degree in Mathematics Education, but after graduation decided to follow a passion and pursue a career in sales.

Dating back to highschool, Dan worked in telemarketing and door to door sales, and since that time has grown his career to become a top performer and VP of Business Development for a fortune 100 organization. Through his 15+ years of Sales experience Dan has become well versed in developing B2B partnerships and building strategic business relationships to achieve multimillion-dollar revenue generation and growth.

Dan has also always had a very entrepreneurial spirit. In college he started a side marketing and promotional business, which helped raise over $50,000 for a local charity. After graduation he went on to develop a mobile app, website and backend management software and aggregator platform in the bar and restaurant vertical. Through these experiences he has developed first-hand knowledge and skills in new business development, contract negotiation, RFP analysis, sales management, marketing strategies, customer retention, SEO strategies, social media and technology integration, which aligns well with this new venture in the shareable technology and solutions business.

Activity

Koloni has just launched in Clinton, IA this week (5/21). Many more partner launches on the way in the next 30 days. More updates to come!